LC 5552 
.W4 A5 
1916a 
Copy 1 






STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA 
DEPARTMENT OF FREE SCHOOLS 



CHARLESTON 
1916 



Suggestions For the Organization of Evening Classes in 
West Virginia High Schools. 



/ 7 <//s*t> 



BY 

L. L. FRIEND 

State Supervisor of High Schools 

Under the Direction of 

M. P. SHAWKEY 

State Superintendent of Schools 






TRIBUNE PRINTING CO.. CHARLESTON. W. VA. 

©• of D. 

FEB 13 1313 



J-. 



ORGANIZATION OF EVENING HIGH SCHOOLS IN 
WEST VIRGINIA 



What Are High Schools For? 

What are our public high schools for? It is a good thing to 
ask ourselves this question so that we may determine whether 
or not our high schools are filling their real mission. Not so many 
years ago the answer to this question almost everywhere would 
have been, "Our high schools are to prepare boys and girls for 
admission to colleges and professional schools." This was a 
very narrow conception of the purpose of the public high school 
and naturally resulted in circumscribed courses of study and a 
very limited high school enrollment. 

But after a while we began to realize that the high school as a 
public institution supported by a tax on the property of all the 
people should seek to serve not only the limited number of young 
people who are preparing for college, but a large number of other 
young people as well, who desire to extend their education beyond 
the grammar school but who do not expect to go to college. As 
a result of this broader understanding of the function of the high 
school, courses of study have been extended and liberalized, new 
subjects have been introduced, some old subjects have been ad- 
justed to new aims, and high school enrollment has increased by 
leaps and bounds. 

But a further broadening of our view concerning the purpose 
of the high school is now taking place. Hitherto the high school 
has been concerned almost wholly with pupils who could be in 
school during the usual school hours for a nine-months' term 
through a course of three or four years' duration. In almost every 
community, however, there are numbers of young people beyond 
elementary school age who for various reasons cannot enroll as 
regular students in the high school or who do not desire to do so. 
But many of these would be glad to enroll for special evening 
courses if such courses were offered. Why should the high school 
not serve these young people as well as those who can come for 
the regular courses? If by so doing the high school can extend its 
benefits to larger numbers and thus render greater returns to the 
taxpayers who support it, is it not its duty to do so? Within the 



past few years a good many communities in the United States 
have decided that it is their duty to extend the benefits of their 
high schools to groups of young people not formerly benefited by 
them; and to reach these groups of young people, they have 
organized evening high schools. 

The Aims of Evening High Schools. 

The greatest need of many of the young people who may be 
reached and benefited by evening high schools is to be made 
conscious of their powers and possibilities. Many of them have 
no clear understanding of themselves, no definite vocation in view 
and no fixed aim in life. The first aim of the evening high school 
should be to wake these young people up, to help them find them- 
selves. Part of its work should, therefore, be inspirational. 

Another aim of the evening high school should be to contribute 
to the vocational success of its students. Much of its work should 
have a direct vocational value. Most of the young people who 
enroll in evening high schools want instruction that will promote 
their advancement in their work and will aid them in making more 
money. This is a laudable desire on their part and the high school 
should help them attain it if possible. 

A third aim should be to prepare young men and women for 
citizenship. There are thousands of young Americans and thous- 
ands more of foreigners who are to become American citizens, 
who have had little or no instruction in the duties and obligations 
of citizenship. Many of these can be reached by evening high 
schools and through its instruction can be given a better under- 
standing of the meaning of citizenship. The first two aims that 
have been mentioned are also embodied in this last. 

The evening high school has perhaps one advantage over the 
day high school. It is not hampered by traditional standards and 
requirements. Its aim is to render the largest possible service to 
its students and to render that service in the most direct manner 
and in the shortest time possible. There are no prescribed subjects 
to be studied and there is no set number of textbook pages to be 
covered in the prescribed length of time. Each pupil studies the 
subjects he thinks will be of the greatest value to him. If a pupil 
wants to study only a single subject he can come for that; and he 
may study that subject in such way as to connect it as closely as 
possible with the work he is doing or wants to do. Some of the 



best school work done anywhere is done by pupils in evening 
schools; and in these schools are often found the most favorable 
conditions for effective teaching. 

Subjects Taught. 

The subjects that can be taught in an evening high school 
will, of course, depend upon the teaching force that can be pro- 
vided and to some extent upon the equipment available. Within 
these limitations instruction should be offered in all subjects that 
will meet the needs of any considerable number of persons who may 
enroll in evening classes. 

Most of the subjects offered should be more or less definitely 
vocational. A study of the best evening high schools through- 
out the country shows that at least eighty per cent of the instruc- 
tion given bears directly on the work in which the students are 
engaged during the day or work for which they desire to prepare 
themselves. Commercial subjects are offered in nearly all such 
schools and perhaps more students enroll for these subjects than 
for any others. Other vocational subjects frequently offered are 
machine shopwork, wood working, cabinet making, electricity, 
automobiles, the gasoline engine, cooking, sewing, poultry raising, 
horticulture, soils and farming, animal husbandry, mechanical 
drawing, industrial chemistry, shop mathematics, card writing, 
sign painting, salesmanship, millinery, commercial English, and 
commercial Spanish. 

It has already been said that one of the important aims of the 
evening high school is to inspire young men and women with a 
consciousness of their powers and possibilities. There is no sub- 
ject that has greater inspirational value than history when it is 
properly taught. The mere study of a textbook in history is not 
likely, however, to serve this purpose. Very few evening school 
students could be interested in a course in history as usually taught 
in the day high school. A course in history to have the greatest 
inspirational value should consist largely of biographical material. 
Most young people are intensely interested in stories of the lives 
of successful men and women. This material can best be pre- 
sented in the form of simple lectures. To use it effectively, how- 
ever, the teacher must prepare his material very carefully so that 
he may be able to tell his story simply and coherently, emphasiz- 
ing the things that are essential and commendable in a successful 
career. The biographical material used should not be chosen too 



largely from the remote past. Stories of the lives of men and 
women who have lived in recent years or are living now and have 
achieved or are achieving success in important fields of work and 
service are likely to be more interesting and inspiring than stories 
of men and women who lived a thousand years ago. Nor should 
important characters in local history be overlooked, as the stories 
of their lives and services to the community will be amongst the 
most effective material available for inspirational purposes. 

There is no finer example of the effectiveness with which history 
material of this kind can be used to inspire young men and women 
than is found in the folk high schools of Denmark. The chief 
purpose of these schools is inspirational, and history is relied on 
mainly to accomplish this purpose. The power of history to 
inspire young men and women in these schools depends largely, 
however, on the power and personality of the teacher. 

The study of citizenship like the study of history can be made 
intensely interesting if the right kind of material is used. It should 
not deal very largely with the theory and machinery of government. 
Very few evening school students could be interested for any 
length of time in such material. The course in citizenship should 
consist largely of a first-hand study of the conditions and needs 
of the local community and of local institutions. It should deal 
with such topics as the following: the local government and its 
relation to state and national government, the streets or roads, 
transportation, markets and food supplies, water, light and tele- 
phone service, schools, churches and missions, the care of de- 
fectives, prisons and reformatories, sanitation and health, industrial 
conditions, commerce and industries, banks and other financial 
institutions, vocations and vocational opportunities, the home, 
beautifying the community, etc. The definite purpose of such 
study is, of course, to lead the student to investigate his environ- 
ment, to think definitely concerning it and to see clearly his rela- 
tion to it. The course in citizenship, if properly organized and 
conducted, is likely to be the most popular and profitable course 
offered. 

In some communities there will be a demand for classes in litera- 
ture, music, art, foreign languages and other subjects of general 
cultural value. Sometimes such courses can be given with much 
profit to the community. For example, classes in chorus singing 
are organized in some evening high schools in the west and are 
among the most popular classes conducted. 

There will frequently be a demand also for evening classes in 



regular high school subjects on the part of persons who desire to 
prepare for college or professional school, but who cannot attend 
the day high school. Such classes should be conducted, if possible, 
when there is a sufficient number of students requiring this work 
to justify the expense of conducting them. Evening classes in 
Latin, German, algebra, plane geometry and solid geometry were 
conducted in several high schools in the state last year. 

Teachers — Compensation of Teachers. 

In a majority of evening high schools throughout the country 
all or a part of the teachers are from the day high school teaching 
force. In some, however, outside teachers are employed exclusively. 
In all of the evening high schools so far organized in West Vir- 
ginia the work has been done by teachers employed in the day 
high schools. 

When day-school teachers are used, the work should be so or- 
ganized as to require not more than three evenings a week from 
any teacher. Teachers having considerable outside work to do 
in connection with their day-school classes should not be expected 
to teach classes in the evening school. 

Most of the teachers in evening high schools in West Virginia 
have been serving without additional compensation. It is a fine 
tribute to their devotion to the work that they are willing to do this. 
It should not be expected of them, however. Boards of education 
should see to it that teachers who perform this valuable service 
for the community are compensated for it, if funds can be provided 
for the purpose, even if the compensation given must be small. 
Of course, when funds cannot be had, teachers will usually be found 
who will do the work gladly, finding their compensation in the 
satisfaction they have in rendering greater service. 

Teachers in evening high schools are usually paid on the basis 
of time employed. Superintendent Frank A. Jensen of Benton 
Harbor, Michigan, made a study in 1915 of twenty-eight evening 
schools in Michigan and Indiana. He found that in those schools 
the compensation of teachers varied from 50 cents to $1.50 per 
hour with a general tendency toward $1.00 per hour. 

Length of Term and Number of Weekly Sessions. 

The length of term in evening high schools in other states varies 
from ten to forty weeks. A term of forty weeks is exceptional, 
however. In most evening high schools the term is considerably 



8 



shorter than in the day high schools, the average term being some- 
where between sixteen and twenty-four weeks. It has been found 
that a long term is usually unsatisfactory for the reason that 
interest lags and many students drop out. Superintendents and 
principals generally caution against a long term. Superintendent 
C. R. Frazier of Everett, Washington, says, "Wer un about forty 
nights, three nights per week, believing that a short term manned 
largely by day-school teachers and principals is more valuable to 
the community than a longer term taught by less experienced, less 
capable teachers." 

Some evening high schools are in session five evenings per week. 
The more common practice, however, seems to favor two or three 
evenings per week. There are at least two objections to the five- 
evening plan: first, it demands too much work on the part of 
teachers, particularly those who teach in the day high school; 
second, regularity of attendance is more difficult to secure. 

Fees. 

While in some evening high schools a tuition fee is charged, the 
general tendency seems to be towards free tuition. It is a very 
common practice among evening high schools to require a deposit 
at the time of enrollment to be returned to the student at the end 
of the term if his attendance has been satisfactory. It is claimed 
that this plan is an effective means of securing faithful attendance 
on the part of some who would otherwise attend very irregularly. 
The amount of the deposit required varies from $2.00 to $5.00. 
When the laboratories of the high school are used, it is customary 
to charge the same laboratory fees as are charged in the day high 
school. 

General Suggestions 

In planning for the organization of an evening high school, it 
is desirable for the superintendent or principal to make a careful 
study of the mercantile establishments and industries of the com- 
munity and to get in touch with their managers. This will enable 
him to determine the kind of instruction that is most needed by 
those who are likely to enroll in the school and to enlist the sym- 
pathy and support of those in charge of these establishments and 
industries. Evening high schools sometimes fail because their 
courses do not meet the real needs of people they are intended to 
serve. 



The opening of the school should be thoroughly advertised. The 
local newspapers should be used, the pastors of the churches 
should be asked to announce the opening of the school from their 
pulpits; placards should be placed in stores, banks and other 
public places and circulars should be distributed. 

The printed announcements concerning courses to be offered 
should give full information with regard to the work of each course 
so that the prospective student may know definitely what benefits 
to expect from the various courses. 

As a rule it is best not to admit students under fifteen years of 
age. Boys and girls under this age should be in day school. 

Ordinarily students enrolled in the day high school should not 
be admitted to evening high school classes, though an exception 
to this rule may now and then be advisable. 

There is no reason why evening classes should not be organized 
in rural high schools as well as in town and city high schools. 
Practical courses in farm crops, horticulture, animal husbandry, 
home economics, farm shop work, and the like will attract a good 
many farmers and farmers' wives as well as their boys and girls. 
Many of them will be interested also in the history lectures and 
in the course in practical citizenship. One of the most successful 
evening elementary schools conducted in the state last year was 
in a one-room school in the open country. 

Have a stereopticon for the use of evening classes. A good one 
can be purchased for forty or fifty dollars. It can be used in many 
ways to supplement and vitalize the work of instruction. 

An address now and then by some one connected with a local 
industry or mercantile establishment on some practical phase of 
the industry or business with which he is connected will be of interest 
and value to the students. 

Certificates may be given to those who attend regularly and 
do faithful work. Such a certificate may sometimes serve the 
student as a recommendation. 

Make a special effort to get foreigners in the community inter- 
ested in the evening classes. Get as many of them as possible to 
enter the classes in history and citizenship. 

Explain the value of the library to the students in evening classes. 
Prepare lists of books found in the library that will be useful in the 
various departments of work offered. If the library is lacking in 
material bearing on the various vocational subjects taught in the 
evening high school, see that books are added in these subjects. 
The library should serve the evening school as well as the day school. 



10 



A LIST OF WEST VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOLS THAT CON 
DUCTED EVENING CLASSES, 1915-16. 



Belington 
Benwood 

Bluefield 
Burnsville 

Charleston 
Hedgesville 
Jacksonburg 

Keyser 

Matewan 
Morgantown 



Parkersburg 



Piedmont 

Reader 

Richwood 

Sabraton 

Spencer 

Terra Alta 

Wellsburg 

Wheeling 

Wyatt 

Charleston 

(Colored) 
Hill Top 

(Colored) 
Parkersburg 

(Colored) 



Shorthand and typewriting. 

Shorthand, typewriting, arithmetic, bookkeeping, 
spelling, penmanship. 
Physical training. 

Civics, agriculture, arithmetic, English, spelling, 
penmanship. 

French, Spanish, commercial classes. 
Agriculture. 

Reading and literature, bookkeeping, arithmetic, 
penmanship. 

Chemistry, industrial work for girls, classes for 
foreigners. 

Latin, algebra, household science and art. 
Typewriting, shorthand, business English, business 
arithmetic, bookkeeping, practical chemistry, cook- 
ing, English for foreigners. 

Bookkeeping, business English, stenography, type- 
writing, cooking, sewing, mechanical drawing, 
freehand drawing, English for foreigners, pen- 
manship. 

Algebra, bookkeeping. 
English, algebra, history, German. 
English, biology, solid geometry, German, European 
history. 
Citizenship. 

Commercial subjects, household science and art. 
Commercial subjects. 

Commercial subjects, classes for foreigners. 
Mechanical drawing, shop arithmetic. 
Geometry, algebra, economics. 
Arithmetic, English, sanitation, civics. 

Arithmetic, geography, history. 

Household science and art, manual training. 



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